So jong Kemano ‘Milk run madness Alcan relocates employees from Kemano to. save _ money\NEWS A16 May is Hospice Month New coordinator raises _ 7 awareness for Terrace Hospice Society\COMMUNITY B1 | It's fun, it’s exercise and it | brings in thousands for charity\SPORTS C1. WEDNESDAY §4,00 PLUS 7¢ GST May 5; 1999 ($1.10 Plus 86 OST outside of the VOL. 12 NO. 4 » Nisga’a power NISGA'A TRIBAL Council president Joe Gosnell, left, and former council executive director Rod Robinson were promi- nently seated at the Ter- faca arena April 28 for Nisga’a Cultural Night. Below, a dancer per- forms. There were ap- proximately 2,500 spec- tators and participants, The evening Is a tradition of the Nisga'a on the oc- casion of their annual conventions, This year's convention took place April 27-30. For more, please tum to Page A5, Treaty delay hits Nisga’a in pocketbook OTTAWA’s DECISION to delay passage of the Nisga’a treaty until the fall means a longer, tougher battle with trealy opponents, says Nisga’a leader Joe Gosnell. The tribal council president said he had been given as- surances by the prime minister in December and by federal . . ; officials as recently as last month that thé treaty would be introduced for debate in Parliament this spring. ““We’xe disappointed,”’ Gosnell said, adding it will give more time for trealy opponents like Skeena MP Mike Scott to renew their attacks on the treaty. ‘*We’re talking about the honour of the Crown to tive up to their word.” Indian Affairs minister Jane Stewart said Friday the pro- vince’s delay in passing its treaty Jegislation until April 27 left the federal government insufficient time 10 complete the debate before the summer recess. Going ahead with the treaty this spring would have vir- tually guaranteed the need to cut off debate using closure — the same controversial device Victoria used to force the treaty through the legislature. “Given the importance of the Nisga’a legislation, il is appropriate to introduce it when the House of Commons resumes sitting in the fall to allow for fuller debate rather than trying to rush it through in the few remaining weeks . of this session,’? Stewart said. ‘‘We are committed to making sure there is an opportunity for informed debate on the content and spirit of the treaty’s several hundred pages,”” The delay until the fall also puts some distance between the federal government and the provincial NDP which drew widespread criticism when it used closure. Gosnell] said the delay also increases the chance that a provincial election might take place before federal ratifica- tion — raising the possibility that a new B.C. Liberal government might get a chance to rescind the legislation. “Farfetched as it may be, that opportunity exists,’? he said. “If that occurred we'd have a major, major crisis on our hands,” The Nisga’a had spent their week-long convention here making plans based on an anticipated effective date for the treaty of Oct. 1. That’s now out the window, Gosnell said. In tum, it pushes back everything from elections for Nisga'a government to release of the $290 million in seltlkement money, And that in ium directly hits the Nisga’a in the pocketbook. Every month that goes by more interest is added to the $50 million bill the Nisga’a owe the federal government for their expenses during the years of treaty negotiations, Cont'd Page A2 Word could come this month - STANDARD- Mayors press Clark on SCI PREMIER GLEN Clark met day, With him was here last week with elght aboriginal affairs minister northwes! mayors who Gordon Wilson. pressed the need for release of promised money for Skeena Cellulose. The mayors presented petitions bearing several hundred names from Prince Rupert and the Hazeltons calling on the goveniment to release capital expenditure money for the company. The meeting lasted about 40 minutes immediately after the premier visited the - Nisga’a convention Tues- Terrace mayor Jack ‘Tal- stra said Clark confirmed the intent to seek approval for the release of the money from treasury board in May. That could include at least $40 million for the opening of the B mill at Prince Rupert, plus more money for logging roads and small- er capital improvements, ‘He was sympathetic and knows that this company Is crucial to the wellbeing of the northwest,’’ Talstra said. “He didn’t give us any guarantees,” Talstra said the mayors are continuing to write letters in an effort to improve the im- age of the company and help southern politicians “appreciate the facts’? a little bit more. “The govermment has never put out £300 million in hard cash for this compa- ny as is sometimes sug- gested,” he said. The sawmills are profitable, Talstra said, ad- ding he’s heard numbers suggesting quarterly profits in the law millions and a surprisingly strong profit at the Terrace sawmill in March. He said he also under- Stands the pulp mill broke even that month. , **The company has done what It can to cut costs and has taken advantage of what market rise there has been,’’ Talstra sald, “We tied to convince them it's heading in the right direction and now is not the time for the faint- hearted, now is the time to press on.”* Talstra said Clark also noted the Toronto Dominion Bank’s reluctance to get fur- ther involved, “We're going to write to the TD Bank and try to ex- plain to them our position,”’ he added, Kitimat mayor Rick Woz- ney said the absence of his name from an April 21 letier of northwest mayors lobby- Cont'd Page A2 Doc quits key post at hospital ONE OF the city’s two general surgeons has resigned from a key position at Mills Memorial Hospital. Dr. Jim Dunfield says he’s no longer able to act as the main connection between the local medical community and the hospital through his Chief of Staff position because of cuts to services. “I cannot in good conscience carry out this mandate,’’ said Dunfield in an Aprit 19 letter to Larisa Tarwick, chair of the Terrace and Area Community Health Council which runs Mills, His resignation date was effective as of April 30. Dunfield said the hiring Tom Novak, brovght in at the re- quest of the health ministry to balance the hospital's books, lead to his decision. “Since the arrival of Mr. Novak, it is obvious to me that you and Mr. Novak are concerned more with balancing the hospital budget than with the provision of adequate health care to the community and region,’’ Dunfield said in bis letter to Tarwick. “In my opinion you are undoing all the hard work that the preceding CHCs and boards have done. I believe the only way to balance this hospital’s budget is to curtail and decrease our commitment to regional services,”’ Dunfield called the direction being taken by the health council as ‘wrong and shortsighted,’’ The surgeon had been chief of staff for four years. It’s a part time administrative position carrying with it a smail salary. A chief of staff represents the actions of the hospi- ta]’s governing body to its physicians, Novak said he could understand why Dunfield resigned. “When you start looking at how to cliange things there can be a difference of opinion,”’ said Novak. “Being chief of staff is a tough job. You’re caught in the middle, He wants to support the medical staff and ] respect that,’’ Novak continued. Dunfield’s resignation comes as doctors criticized, the financial course of action being taken this year at Mills by ihe health council. It has sent a balanced budget to the provincial govern- ment for approval. Although Tarwick recently said the budget won't result in cuts to services, physicians said that wasn't sa, One doctor, pediatrician Dr. Jane Pegg, said it is simply wrong for Tarwick to assert that the new hospital budget designed to balance its books won't resuit in service cuts, “From my perspective, as a provider of health care to children and as a parent, the budget cuts do affect ser- vices,’’ she said in a letter to the editor in today’s The Ter- race Standard, Pegg said money-saving measures will mean more chil- dren being sent to Vanconver for treatment who tradi- tionally have been cared for at Mills. “Tt is true we are not funded regionally to look after any of our patients, pediatric or adult, but we have the ability to do so and have tradilionally provided this service because there is nowhere else in the region,’’ she said. Dr. Geoff Appleton, the northern representative from Terrace on the board of the B.C, Medical Association, sald the community health council should come clean with lo- cal residents. “If they have to get a balanced budget, that’ s fine, At Icast tell us that. Just don’t say it won’t cause us problems, because it does,’’ said Appleton. Novak said the health council has started the search fora replacment for Dunfield. This isn’t the first time Dunfield has taken a public posi- tion, Last fall, in his role as chief of staff at Mills, Dunfietd wrote a letter suggesting northwest orthopedic services would be best located in Terrace and not in Prince Rupert or Kitimat. That resulted in an uproar from Kilimat and Prince Rupert health councils and physicians, saying they couldn’t afford 19 lose such a service. Dunfield was criticized by Tarwick for writing the letter undcr his chief of staff title. A full text of Pegg’s letter can be found on Page A6. And on Page A3, another local doctor is worried about patient care at the hospital. Assaulter dies A LOCAL MAN found guilly of sexually assaulting eight minors died just one week before he was to be sentenced i in a local courtreom. Leonard Aubrey Harrington, 67, was to appear in court April 30. He died April 23. Crown counsel and the local court registry did not have an official cause of death listed at press time. Harringlon was known to have lingering heart problems. Crown council was planning an abatement order, which effec ively drops charges when an accused dies. The assaults occurred between 1968 and 1986 in Terrace, Pringe Rupert and Vancouver where Harrington was active in youth sports. He was also a sports reporter for a local radio station and had frequent contact with minors. Hartington was fisst charged in Oct. 1997 following a tengthy Investigation.